IS A FULL-FACE HELMET SAFER THAN AN OPEN-FACE HELMET?

There are two basic choices when looking at motorcycle helmets. First, you can wear an open-faced helmet, which surrounds your head and leaves the face exposed, often for a pair of sunglasses or goggles. Second, you can wear a full-face helmet that has a bar going around your chin. There are other specialty helmets that don’t perfectly fit into these classes, but they are the main two. So, which one is safer?

It’s hard to argue that the open-face helmet could ever be safer. This does not mean it is unsafe, but it simply can’t compete with the full-face design, which puts more helmet and structure right where a rider needs it the most. That extra bar gives the helmet more stability and durability in a crash, whereas the open-face design could still allow a rider’s face to connect directly with another object—like a car—during a wreck.

In fact, some people have gone so far as to write out percentages showing what the odds are that different parts of a person’s face will hit a car in an accident. For the crown of the head, it’s only 1.8 percent. For the back of the head, it’s 6.5 percent. For the forehead, the percentage comes in at 8.2.

For that chin bar, though, the stats show that there is a 19.4 percent chance that it will hit something. It’s clearly the area of the head that is in the most danger, which is why that bar is so important.

If you’re injured in a wreck in Pennsylvania, no matter which type ofhelmet you’re wearing, you may be able to seek compensation.